Plustek Optic 7200 - any users out there?

[foto_fool]

About a month ago I picked up a Plustek Optic 7200 from Newegg for under $200 delivered. It seems to me that this is a HUGE value - 7200dpi with little downside. OK the Dmax is only 3.3, everything is plastic, it won't do MF and the SilverFast SE software may not be the best out there.

I have had good results to date.

http://images23.fotki.com/v765/photos/1/1126243/4795825/MotherSontn-vi.jpg
Hexar RF, Hexanon 50mm/f2, Ilford Delta 400, Xtol

Scanned the above as a 16-bit HDR tiff with minimal processing in Photoshop. I'm still trying to figure out how to do color negatives.

Anyone else using one of these? Any comments or tips?

[tedwhite]

Good luck, and when you do figure it out, let me know.

I have one of these, and I have not been able to get a sharp scan out of it. It came with the Silverfast. I had difficulty with SF so I bought VueScan. VS seems to work better (easier is perhaps the better term).

Frustrated, I quit using it about a year ago. However, at that time I was not nearly as experienced in scanning as I am now (if you can describe moving from kindergarten to first grade as 'experienced.').

So, I will try to scan a few negs once again with it and perhaps I'll have better luck.


Also, I thought you couldn't upload tiff files to RFF, but you seem to have done it.

OT: If you live in Sonoma, do you know my friend Robert Cummings?

Ted

[freeranger]

I've got one, and I also use vuescan. I haven't really spent the time and effort to get to know the best settings within the scanning software - I do all the colour, contrast etc in photoshop once I have the file. While not perfect, the 7200 gives a lot of bang for the buck. Mine has already paid for itself when considering the prices charged at my local print shop for scanning, and if I ever take a picture worthy of professional printing...i'll send it to a professional print shop.

[freeranger]

One thing, though...I mainly use a mac and the plustek is not compatible :( I have to use my dodgy pc for scanning purposes and hope that it doesn't crash until I've finished the roll.

[foto_fool]

I'm not loving SF either and it sounds like VueScan may be the way to go. Ted, the image I uploaded is a small jpeg I pulled from the original tiff - I thought I read that I could not upload a tiff. (OT - I don't recall meeting Robert Cummings. If he is into wine, pm me and I will forward contact information for our tasting salon.)

Freeranger - my local lab wants $15 a roll for hi-res scans. I had 12 rolls processed last month, so the Optic is pretty much paid for. Like you, if I find I have anything that is big-picture-worthy I will send the individual frame in for a professional scan.

- John

[fgianni]

I got one a couple of years ago, could not get a good scan with silverfast, but with vuescan I can even get decent scans out of kodachromes; for B&W and colour negatives is the best value scanner around, for slides is just decent.

[fgianni]

I got one a couple of years ago, could not get a good scan with silverfast, but with vuescan I can even get decent scans out of kodachromes; for B&W and colour negatives is the best value scanner around, for slides is just decent.

[tedwhite]

Well, reporting back somewhat belatedly, I got nowhere with SF. Tomorrow I'll try Vuescan.

[foto_fool]

I think I've probably scanned about 100 B/W frames with the bundled Silverfast SE since I started this thread. And not one color - not that I shoot much color film anyway. I got used to SF and decided to try their Ai product before going to Vuescan, Mistake? - maybe. I'll let you know. Still love the scanner.
- John

[foto_fool]

Since someone just bumped the poll -

Update on Silverfast Ai - The software is good, especially the IT8 color calibration. However, I spent probably 10 man-hours over a couple of months gettting the software installed. Their installer is absolute crap. If anyone else wants to go through this pain:
1) uninstall Silverfast SE, and I mean REALLY uninstall it - after the uninstaller is done, delete empty folders and run regedit to eliminate all the Lavasoft registry entries.
2) Uninstall the scanner.
3) Go to the Plustek website, download the newest scanner driver and install it. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT DRIVER. There are different drivers for the 7200i and 7200, even 2 drivers for the 7200 based on which serial number you have.
4) Download the Windows Installer Cleanup utility from Microsoft and run it. The Lavasoft does not use WI but it seems that configuration information from outdated, corrupt, or incomplete installs can halt the Lavasoft install. Anyway, I ran it and then my install worked.
5) Pay Lavasoft $140 for your unlock key and download the AI package for the Plustek - the menu is pretty easy to navigate here.
6) Turn the scanner off and install the new Silverfast version.

I'm running Windows XP SP2 on a newish Dell XPS 410. Note that Windows has a problem is you have multiple imaging devices installed on the USB.

Best of luck - John

[Marsopa]

In two days I'll have one... later an opinion, much later, five days before the scanner arrival my second son has born... very busy days, he is with me, in my arms while I write, future RF user...?

[foto_fool]

In two days I'll have one... later an opinion, much later, five days before the scanner arrival my second son has born... very busy days, he is with me, in my arms while I write, future RF user...?

Congratulations on your son! I just was changing a diaper on mine in the middle of the post above.:p Look forward to hearing about your scanner experience - when you have some time!

Cheers! - John

[Dr. Strangelove]

I have been considering the Plustek 7200 for months now, but probably I will get the Canoscan 8600F instead, since it can scan MF as well. The price seems to be almost the same around here. Getting decent scans from 35 mm film with a flatbed is more difficult, but it can be done, and since I love my MF folders (and my lovely, light weight :rolleyes: Kiev-60's), it would be foolish not to have a MF scanning capability.

Resolution is not an issue, since all the reports I have read about the Plustek 7200 say that the 7200 dpi is just a marketing resolution and best results are achieved with 3600 dpi. For real 7200 dpi scans you need to buy a Hassy Flextight X5...

[varjag]

I recall a magazine test, where true resolution of the scanner on test targets was determined to be 3800 dpi.

[photophorous]

Resolution specs don't mean squat. I have the Canonscan 8400f, and it supposedly scans at 3200dpi, to produce about a 12 MP file. I've had slides scanned at my local shop for $.29 a frame at 6MP that show significantly more detail than the 12MP file from the Canonscan.

Dr. Strangelove,

I don't know much about the 8600f, but if it's like the 8400f, you would probably be better off with an Epson 4490, which costs about the same. I've seen some pretty nice scans from that Epson.

Paul

[varjag]

Resolution is perfectly meaningful figure if you measure it rather than taking marketing data. Ditto for dynamic range.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Dr. Strangelove,

I don't know much about the 8600f, but if it's like the 8400f, you would probably be better off with an Epson 4490, which costs about the same. I've seen some pretty nice scans from that Epson.

Paul
The 8600F is a newer model, which is supposed to have an 4800 dpi optical resolution. It has gotten pretty good reviews even from some amateur photography magazines for excellent value. But you are right about the Epson 4990; its price seems to have dropped lately.

[tedwhite]

Getting back to the Plustek Optic Film 7200 for a moment, here's my problem:

I put the negs in the scanning tray, insert the tray into the scanner, and follow the Vuescan directions. The neg strip appears, in actual size, and as I recall has been converted from negative to positive, and at this point the little images look really good.

Now what to I do? I don't know, so I try moving the dotted cropping lines from top, bottom, and both sides to frame just one image. Then when I click OK the image fills the screen and it's just mush.

Obviously what I just did is wrong.

Ted

[foto_fool]

Ted - I'm not following you. You scan the entire film strip? Five or six frames? How long does this take? Do you manually advance the carrier between frames? This doesn't sound right. I used Vuescan for about 10 minutes 5 months ago and don't recall it doing this.

Running Silverfast with my 7200 I hit "preview" to acquire a working image of a single frame. I make small adjustments to levels, contrast, grain etc., then crop to the actual edges of the frame. When I hi "scan" it takes about 2-3 minutes to make a 16-bit HDR TIFF (16MB).

IIRC - Vuescan has a workflow tutorial on their site on in the install package.

[tedwhite]

Sorry, I confused neg scanning with my Epson 4990 flatbed with neg scanning with the Plustek as it's been several months since I've done either one.

You are right, it does scan just one frame at a time, and you must manually advance it to the next frame. I will try doing as you suggest later on in the day.

Thanks,

Ted

[ZorkiKat]

If only the DMax was higher, it would be a very great scanner.

High optical resolution. Check.

Fast scanning. Check.

Hefty files for really high image resolution and data. Check.

But noisy highlights. X

[DRabbit]

I've got the 7300 (7200 not compatible with Mac) -- and hated the SF software. Using VueScan I've been very happy. Since film isn't what I mainly shoot, it didn't make sense for me to spend more money on a scanner... but I think the Plustek is a very good value!

(vignetting in photo was intentional and added after scanning)

http://www.dangrabbit.com/photography/albums/film/foreclosed.jpg

[DNG]

I have the 7300 with SF SE software and the W7/64 upgrade..

I guess you know you need have the scanner turned on with a neg/slide carrier inserted... before you open the software

On the left upper side, there are 3 tabs, General, Frame, densitometer. Under GENERAL is are 2 options, Scan Mode and neg/pos.... Choose neg/pos and pick film type. For Negative, a dialog will open where you can pick the film brand and speed. ALSO check AUTO and CCR, this will help film emoltion coloration calibration a little.

Hope this helps... I do very little adj when I scan.. may do exposure a bit, bit not much else.. Photo Edit Software will do a better job... Make sure you turn off the the dust removal software.

[c.w.]

I get the best, most consistent results by scanning everything as a positive, then inverting and running levels and curves and whatnot in photoshop.

What i do is just scan everything while watching television at the least messed with settings, then go through and run an action i create specifically for each film i use in photoshop in one big batch. Once the batch is done running, i go back and adjust frames individually, but i usually only do that if a frame is over or underexposed.

Most films have a pretty similar action, generally i invert, then do a conservative levels. Usually the result is a little dull compared to a real print, so i usually add a little bit of a curve to make it pop a little. When i'm building an action for a new film i check it on a few normally exposed frames to make sure it works across a bunch of photos. Once that's done doing all the adjustments is really quick and easy.

I found when i was starting that negative mode was all over the place, and didn't get nearly as much tonal range out of anything. Add to that the fact that the "negafix" part of silverfast has a grand total of like 3 films (none of which i use), it's really slow to use, and generally futzing in silverfast does more harm than good, i essentially decided to use it as little as possible.

All in all, it's a really good scanner for the price, and one of the only ones out there new that isn't a flatbed or a million dollars. It's just quirky.